Football Manager 2012 release date announced

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The latest instalment in Sports Interactive/Sega's footy management franchise, Football Manager 2012, is coming out in the UK for PC and Mac on 21 October 2011.

In addition, studio director Miles Jacobson, who was awarded an OBE this year for services to the games industry, has started a series of daily blogs which will reveal details about the forthcoming game. They will contain exclusive content, including new screens and video clips, and will continue up until the developer releases a playable demo before the main release date.

As an extra for fans, Sports Interactive will also allow players to import and continue playing the save game generated in the demo in the full version when available (disc copy or Steam-downloaded).

And that's not all, a new episode of the Football Manager Podcast is now available for download from iTunes. In it, along with a raft of footy banter and gossip, Jacobson reveals new FM 2012 features through Feature Roulette and offers copies of the game itself in a competition. But, even better than that, Pocket-lint, along with Matt Lawless and Matt Fortune from the Mail Online, guests in the shape of myself, Rik Henderson.

Find out, among many other things, exactly what we think of Joey Barton, and why Jason Puncheon's move to QPR was one of the biggest transfer stories of the summer. And at 1 hour 38 minutes long, the game will probably be out by the time you've finished listening. Result.

What features are you most looking forward to in FM 2012? Let us know in the comments below...